Communicating Results: The British Columbia Foundation Skills Assessment Results Reports

• In Event: 77.015 - Canadian Educational Researchers' Association

Abstract

British Columbia has recently transformed its Grades K-9 curriculum to a skills and competency
based one to meet the changing needs of students in the province. Student assessment has been at
the heart of this educational transformation. The Foundation Skills Assessment (FSA), an annual
assessment of literacy and numeracy for all students in Grades 4 and 7, has been redesigned to
reflect this transition. As part of the redesign, the FSA report was divided into two components: a
succinct report for parents to provide them with meaningful information about their child’s
performance and an excel sheet for teachers to help them use the assessment data in a formative
manner. Specifically the parent report consist of proficiency level descriptions that clearly
describe what the student knows and can do based on what was assessed. Teachers, on the other
hand, are provided with raw data that illustrates how their students performed on each
component of the assessment. Detailed information on what each item assessed is also included.
The preliminary findings of this endeavour highlight the importance of aligning results reports
with the purpose of the assessment and to provide information that is relevant, meaningful and of
practical use to the intended audience.

Authors

• Raman Kumar Grover, British Columbia Ministry of Education

• Todd Milford, University of Victoria

• Janet Powell, Ministry of Education

• Nancy J. Walt, British Columbia Ministry of Education